


you took these two left feet

by larryink (blynrin)



Category: One Direction, One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe- High School, High School, Hippie Harry, M/M, Punk Louis, Songfic, Swing Dance, flowerchild Harry, flowercrown harry, i dont even know what this is, uhh
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-27
Updated: 2014-06-27
Packaged: 2018-02-06 10:40:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1855054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blynrin/pseuds/larryink
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>"i'm harry," the boy finally says, and his voice is not what louis expected at all, deep and slow.</i><br/><i>"that's... nice? why are you hiding out behind my locker, harry?" he asks, not dropping the subject. harry blushes and pouts, and louis has no idea why.</i><br/> </p><p> -louis is a tattooed punk and harry wears flowercrowns and just wants louis to swingdance with him-</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> fic loosely based off of the song "i don't dance" by lee brice. it's country but sooo cute.

when the swing dance club was first introduced to the school, there were three members. harry styles, some kid named liam payne, and his girlfriend danielle. harry had no idea what he was doing, but he was fourteen and it seemed fun. he didn't have a partner, though, so the three of them switched out and took turns with the others. it was fun to watch harry's crown of flowers fly from his head when liam spun him too fast.  
when they started putting up flyers, the club gained a little bit of attention.  
after two years, there were at least twenty four people active at a time, no less. it was fun, being a mentor to kids who were sometimes older than harry. he loved showing people how to dance.

\---

he was probably thirteen the first time he saw louis tomlinson. louis was _the_ coolest kid around, everybody knew that. he and stan lucas were who you tried to be. when louis dyed his hair black, about ten kids did the same the next week. when louis first pierced his ears, all the guys did it too. he was just popular, even when everyone found out he liked boys just as much as he liked girls.

harry liked louis more than he liked anyone. 

\----

when louis slams his locker shut, the last thing he expects to see is a pair of wild green eyes staring up at him.  
he jumps back, startled, before pressing a hand to his chest. "jesus christ, kid! you trying to give me a heart attack? what do you want?"  
when the boy's eyes slide to the floor and he shifts back on his heels, louis starts to get impatient. "hey, hello, anyone home? what do you want?" he repeats, taking in the kid's appearance. he's obviously an underclassman, probably sixteen at the oldest. he's dressed weird, though, like some sort of hippie weirdo. louis' eyes move from his worn down boots to his (obviously purposefully) ripped jeans, to the flowy shirt hanging from his skinny frame. when his eyes finally reach the boy's head, though, he notices a careful array of flowers in his mop of curls before it hits him that this kid was wearing a fucking flower crown, for christ's sake.  
"i'm harry," the boy finally says, and his voice is not what louis expected at all, deep and slow.  
"that's... nice? why are you hiding out behind my locker, harry?" he asks, not dropping the subject. harry blushes and pouts, and louis has no idea why. fuckin' weird, he is.  
"i was actually wondering... there's-" his slow speech is interrupted by a loud call of louis' name and then a body latching onto him from behind.  
"louis, my man!" niall crows in his ear, and louis shakes him off irritably. the blond boy doesn't comply, instead jumps more firmly onto louis' back in a piggyback state and ruffling a hand through his dyed-red hair.  
he doesn't even notice harry at first, who at the loud noise had pressed himself against the lockers beside them and is staring at them with wide eyes, curious.  
"hey, who's this?" niall asks as another body materializes beside them. zayn's to his left, dressed more like louis with his darker clothes and quiffed hair, tattooed body on display. niall is the odd one out of their group, but he's, well, niall. he is one of the most popular seniors in the school, seemingly knowing everyone. because of this, louis and zayn were in turn well known and liked, despite their multiple tattoos and louis' facial piercings.  
"uh, this is harry. he gave me a mild stroke earlier."  
all three boys turn to look at a red-faced harry, before he stutters out a "n-nevermind, i was just about to leave-" while nervous fingers straighten the flowers in his hair.  
zayn scoffs as harry nearly trips over himself in his haste to escape. "well, that was interesting. what a freak," he speaks up, but it's not meant in a mean way.  
louis stares after the younger boy on his trek down the hall until he rounds a corner and disappears from sight.  
he stays in louis' mind for the rest of the day.  
\---  
the next time louis meets harry, he's out smoking under the goalpost of the school's football field, standing under the overpass so he doesn't get wet. he's just lit up and is scrolling through his dashboard when a sneeze makes him snap his head up. harry is wearing a flowercrown again today, a large sweater enveloping his frame as he makes his way across the field toward the senior. it's cold out; louis himself has on his leather jacket and a black beanie. a light drizzle had started about ten minutes ago, and from what he can see, harry had been out in the rain for most of it. louis' tongue plays with his lip ring for a moment before he calls out "hurry up, curly, you'll catch cold if you stay out there any longer!"  
harry sprints the remainder of the way, ducking under the cover with louis and beaming up at him. louis just stares at this boy as he takes a drag before offering the cigarette to harry with a questioning expression.  
harry shakes his head and fixes his crown. it's a little shaken up now, wet, but just as bright as the one the day before.  
"so, harry, what brings you out here?" louis asks harry, leaning against the pole behind him. the boy seems a bit flustered, although not as much as yesterday. louis frowns and thinks that harry is a bit beautiful with flaming cheeks.  
the boy looks up at him, the smile making him just radiate, what the hell. he looked like he'd just seen the second coming of christ. "you remembered my name," he said, and louis blinked.  
"i.. did, yes. are you gonna answer my question or are you just gonna stare at me?"  
"oh! well actually," harry's foot swiped through the muddy grass beneath their feet, which suddenly has become much more interesting to look at than louis. "i was trying to ask you the other day... there's, uh, the clu- swing dance club, there's this event we hold and i was wondering if you wanted to go... with- with me..."  
louis stares at him, harry stares at his boots, and the bell ringing signals the end of their break, so louis stubs out his cigarette beneath his toe. "that's..." something he would have to think about. right now, though? he decides to ignore it. also, he can't afford another tardy, he'd get detention. louis is in charge of picking up the twins after school every day, he can't do that if he's stuck behind because some kid in a ridiculous flower crown makes him late to econ to ask about some dance.  
"look, i've really got to get to class, you should too." he pulls a marker from his bag and grabs harry's arm, writing his number followed by a _louis x_. "nice talking to you kid. give me a call if you get sick so i can reprimand you for staying out in the rain, okay?" he salutes before jogging off across the field away from harry, heart pounding.


	2. Chapter 2

it's the following monday and louis hasn't seen harry anywhere. it's weird, since the younger boy had been almost persistent their first two encounters. it takes a moment for louis to remind himself that he doesn't care, that if some kid doesn't want to talk to him anymore, he's fine with it.  
he plops down in his seat next to zayn, smiling at mr. hamilton, who rolls his eyes at the two of them before ignoring them. he'll probably give them a warning or two by the time the class is over, it's unavoidable. louis can't sit still for the life of him, and that goes for keeping quiet as well.  
"so that kid that hid out at your locker the other day approached me in the hall yesterday," zayn speaks next to him, doodling on a piece of paper. louis' head shoots up from where it had been resting on his arms, watching zayn draw some sort of snake-skull thing that he might take as a reference for a new tattoo.  
"what? why? what did he want?" louis asks, then cringes internally at how eager his voice sounds, because he's not eager. he's just... curious, yeah. harry's a weird kid, what would he want with zayn? with either of them, for that matter?  
"he asked me what you do after school on thursdays. i told him you're busy every day after school. then i walked away." he replies and louis nods. then frowns.  
"why does he want to know what i do on thursdays? also why didn't he just ask me himself, i gave him my fucking number."  
"hell if i- wait, you gave him your number, lou?" zayn's confused, and louis understands why. he doesn't give his number out to random boys, especially ones who dress like freaking hippies and wear flowers in their hair. except... he did, and he doesn't know why. he says as much to zayn, shrugging his shoulders and drawing a small black star on the corner of his page. they leave it at that. 

\---

harry and liam slide into their seats, the two of them farther back in the rows as to hide from the teacher's attention. it works well for the most part, but mainly because they don't do much to warrant any attention in the first place. most of the time they just pass notes between each other and occasionally kick the other's seat. it's a nice system they have going.  
harry had just given liam a slip of paper with four paragraphs on giraffes and other random stuff, things he's not bothered to say out loud but writes down when he's bored. liam passes it back with about twenty exclamation points and five smiley faces, because he likes reading harry's strange facts about different animals and all that cool shit. cool shit like him, because yeah, harry is totally cool. _not_ , he amends silently.  
he balls up that slip of paper and tosses it at liam's head before ripping out another sheet and sitting there for a few moments. he feels like spongebob in that episode where he procrastinates writing his essay, which makes him giggle and start to draw the fancy **the** that spongebob had done on his paper, before he realizes what he's doing.  
scribbling that out, harry swallows and side-eyes the fuck out of his best friend. it's like liam can read his mind because he turns his head to mouth "what's up?" at him, eyebrows pushed together to show his confusion.  
harry quickly looks down and scribbles _you know louis tomlinson???_ before he loses the nerves, and slides it across the desks to sit in front of his best friend.  
liam reads it before he parts his mouth. he writes something down and passes it back. 

_duh, of course i do. why?_

harry inhales deeply. 

_i asked him to the dance with me_

liam's eyes nearly bulge out of his head, and he fish-mouths at harry a few times before writing back,

_what the hell??!?!!?!?!?! why didn't you tell me sooner? what happened, what did he say? i didn't even think he knew you existed, tbh_

_he didn't... i've only talked to him twice. i'm too scared to approach him anymore. the first time i couldn't even get anything out past my name before his friends showed up. god, i'm pathetic. i literally ran away b/c i thought i was going to piss my pants right there in front of him. how embarrassing would that be?  
the second time wasn't too bad, we were alone but i was soaking wet b/c we were outside and it was raining. i asked him to the dance and instead of answering, he wrote his number on my arm. what the hell does that even mean?? i can't even look at his contact in my phone b/c i feel like i'm gonna throw up. i'm not sure what to do._

liam takes his time reading harry's reply, before shaking his head. 

_first things first... text him_

harry stares at it. liam snatches the paper back before he can even lift his pencil. 

_good luck :)_

harry thinks he's gonna need it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> unbeta'd, sorry this is so late !! it's currently 2:03 am and i have no idea what i'm doing with this fic but i know i just want to finish it.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> unbeta'd at 1:30 in the morning... sorry ! xx
> 
> (oops&hi make an appearance.. hahah whoops)

"harry!"  
that's all harry hears before he's knocked to the ground. for a moment he's terrified, thoughts of being beaten and dragged off somewhere to die flashing in his head. then the weight is off his back and he can breathe, so he does.  
when he finally turns around, there's a blond boy standing above him with his hand held out. it takes him a moment to realize that the apologetic expression is on the face of niall horan.  
he cautiously takes the boy's hand and is yanked up, niall steadying him on his feet. "you don't have much balance, do you?" the blond asks.  
harry's face heats up. "i do just fine when i'm not being tackled to the floor," he replies, because he may be clumsy but it doesn't mean he won't defend himself.  
all he gets in return is a booming laugh, niall's head thrown back as his shoulders shake. "that makes sense, sorry about that! how about we grab a bite to make up for it, hmm? my treat."  
"w- what? why did you tackle me in the first place?" he's confused. extremely confused, if he's honest, because the school day is over and the most popular boy at school just body slammed him... and he's louis' best friend. what is happening?  
niall laughs again. "not sure! hey, don't forget this," he leans down to pick up harry's flowercrown and hand it to the younger boy. "let's go, yeah? i know this great place, the food is amazing. well.. do you like pizza? that's pretty much all they have. actually they're a pizza place so that makes sense, sorry if you wanted anything else..." he continued talking, and harry just let himself be pulled along, flabbergasted. 

\---

louis has been waiting for niall to show up for twenty minutes, and he's almost tempted to just walk out. zayn had already called off, said he was meeting his tutor for the first time today. supposedly the kid wasn't even that good of a student, just had a knack for biology. and, well, zayn had a lot of trouble in that class. they'll work it out.  
louis is in the middle of sticking two straws up his nose when the bell above the door sounds, signaling someone walking in. his head automatically raises so he can check for his friend, and he smiles when he sees the blond tips niall sports. however, it freezes on his lips when he spots a curly haired boy looking absolutely dumbfounded at everything niall's saying as they walk in together.  
louis quickly snorts out the straws, then takes a napkin to clean up any snot he might have gotten on his face or clothes. it's then that he realizes harry is staring at him with a shocked expression, and _oh_. niall had probably dragged him here without explaining why, just like he'd forgotten to mention to louis that he was bringing along harry.  
goddamn it niall. 

\---

when harry sees louis with bubblegum pink bendy straws sticking out of his nose, he knows he's in love.  
it's always been a bit of a schoolboy crush/infatuation with the older boy, seeing as he never talked to him, but now he knows that this goes beyond that.  
and then niall starts walking over to louis' booth, and harry is standing alone on the entryway of the restaurant.  
"um, niall-" he starts, then stops. he has two options: follow niall and sit down across from louis and maybe get to know him more... and convince him to go to the dance with him. or try, again. or, he could walk out the door and never talk to louis again out of embarrassment because he has been trying for years to work up the courage and he still doesn't have it.  
it's a simple choice, really.  
harry is just turning to leave when he trips over a folded up edge of the carpet, and he nearly falls flat on his face before strong arms are catching him.  
"oops," he mumbles, mortified. what if louis had seen that, oh god. he glances up to see who had caught him and chokes on his tongue.  
"hi. shit, you okay? that could have been bad, you almost brained yourself." of course it's louis. and of course harry is now frozen to the spot, louis' tattooed arm still touching him _oh god_.  
"uh, hello. sorry, i was just about to leave-"  
harry refuses to believe that louis' smile dims. it will always be bright and sunny because he doesn't care if harry leaves or not, and he needs to stop projecting.  
"what, why?! sit down and eat with us, styles. niall said he's paying and that's a rare occurrence, c'mon." louis takes harry's wrist and drags him to the table, and harry is fucked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'll try to make the next chapter longer ... and update my other fics haha.....................
> 
> find me on tumblr @ hzier !   
> come talk to me :)  
> kudos and comments appreciated xxxx


End file.
